26 councillors in study trip

JAKARTA: Twenty-six councillors have embarked on a three-day study trip to three provinces in connection with the regulations for gubernatorial elections starting on Wednesday, despite the fact that the controversy over their foreign trip is not yet over.

Of the 26, six have been to Bangka-Belitung province, 11 to Gorontalo province and the remaining 11 to North Sulawesi.

City Council chairman Edy Waluyo said the trip was aimed at studying the election regulations in the provinces, which had just held elections.

"The election will be the first for Jakarta that is run differently from previous ones," he said Thursday.

Councillor Syamsidar Siregar revealed the participants were given only one ticket each and would stay in a hotel, saying that the trip was financed by the city budget.

"It's not much," said Syamsidar, who declined to reveal the amount of money allocated for the trip.

Two years ago, dozens of city officials and councillors participated in a trip to Australia, Japan and South Africa. Three councillors were recently identified as suspects as they were paid allowances for the trip, even though they did not participate in it. -- JP